Tasawwuf Ibn Aqil

Abu al-Wafa’ Ibn `Aqil al-Hanbali (d. 513) on Tasawwuf

Like al-Harawi al-Ansari, he was a hafiz and faqih of the Hanbali school who was an ardent defender of the Sunna and of tasawwuf. He is considered a reviver of the school of Imam Ahmad, although he had a number of teachers from different schools. Like other Sufis of his school such as Ibn Qudama (d. 620) and al-Tufi (d. 715), Ibn `Aqil considered al-Hallaj a wali (saint) and did not doubt his sincerity and righteousness. Ibn al-Jawzi reported that he had in his own possession the autograph copy of a treatise of Ibn `Aqil written in praise of al-Hallaj, entiled Juz’ fi nasr karamat al-Hallaj (Opuscule in praise of al-Hallaj’s gifts). Ibn `Aqil was a polymath and his Kitab al-funun reportedly numbered up to eight hundred volumes of which only one is extant.(1)

(1) See George Makdisi’s article in the Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “Ibn `Akil.”

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The Arabic word Sunnah lexically means "road" or "practice." In the language of the Prophet {saw} and the Companions it denotes the whole of lawful practices followed in the Religion, particularly the pristine path of Prophets, whether pertaining to belief, religious and social practice, or ethics generally speaking.